The Precision Oncology Lab is led by School of Medicine researcher Syamantak Khan, PhD. The laboratory's primary focus is understanding how cancer evades various treatments and uses this understanding to innovate precision oncology strategies to address the overarching challenge of therapeutic resistance.
The Precision Oncology Lab is particularly interested in developing novel molecular imaging tools and therapeutic interventions to address heterogeneity and metabolic reprogramming in cancer.
Why Precision Oncology?
No two cancers are the same. Heterogeneity is cancer's weapon for disease progression and evasion from various treatments. To overcome therapeutic resistance in cancer, researchers must accurately model and study the inter-patient and intra-patient tumor heterogeneity. Resistance to drugs and radiotherapy, resulting in disease recurrence, becomes inevitable when cancers are heterogeneous and genetically diverse. Therefore, strategies must be developed to personalize therapy to improve the clinical care of cancer patients.
Meet Our Lab Members
Poulomi Biswas, PhD
Research Scientist
NextGen Precision Health
Email: pbf72@missouri.edu
Google Scholar Profile
Bio
Poulomi Biswas, PhD, is a research scientist specializing in molecular biology and bio microfluidics systems. With a strong background in molecular biology, her research focuses on organoid systems, cancer neuroscience and personalized medicine for head and neck cancer patients. Dr. Biswas earned her PhD in biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and has since made significant contributions to the field through pioneering research, impactful publications and collaborations with various academic partners. Her current projects involve advancing organoid systems for the development of biobanks in different types of cancers. Dr. Biswas has been recognized for her contributions with prestigious awards, including the AWSAR DST 2023 Award, the N-PDF Award, and honors from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Her research has been published in leading scientific journals such as Journal of General Virology, Virology Journal, Journal of Molecular Biology, Journal of Chemical Engineering, ACS Sensors, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, and Journal of Flexible Electronics, among others, as well as in numerous conferences. Beyond research, Dr. Biswas collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to translate scientific discoveries into real-world applications, bridging the gap between academia and industry.
Neeladrisingha Das, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
NextGen Precision Health
Email: ndas@missouri.edu
Google Scholar Profile
Bio
Neel Das, PhD, is a cell and molecular biologist with a diverse and interdisciplinary background. Before pursuing his doctoral studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, he spent five years working in the aluminum industry, focusing on wastewater, effluent treatment and basic utilities, where he got trained in mechanical engineering and fluid mechanics. His PhD research centered on deciphering various cancer cell death mechanisms using natural compounds. Following his PhD, Neel joined Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow, where he received extensive training in radiation therapy and molecular imaging. His work at Stanford focused on the radiobiology of cancer cells exposed to external beam radiation, including investigations into FLASH radiotherapy and its unique tissue-sparing effects. Currently, Dr. Das’s research focuses on studying the radiobiological impact of Auger electron emitters, particularly 161Tb, in cancer treatment. He is developing advanced prostate organoid models to investigate PSMA heterogeneity, treatment-induced neuroendocrine differentiation and the mechanisms driving liver metastasis in castration-resistant prostate cancer. He has authored more than 40 journal articles and received competitive research funding from Stanford Cancer Institute and Stanford Radiation Oncology. Outside the lab, Neel enjoys playing music and spending time outdoors camping and hiking with his family.
